Work on second-gen Apple Vision Pro & new smart glasses is progressing
Despite reportedly weak Apple Vision Pro sales to consumers, Apple is working on both a less-expensive version as well as a second-generation model, alongside research on a "smart glasses" type device.
A less-expensive and lighter "Apple Vision" product could arrive as early as sometime in 2025.
A new report from Bloomberg outlines two forthcoming headsets: a second-generation model of the Apple Vision Pro, and a cheaper version of the headset which could be dubbed simply the "Apple Vision." The latter product may appear as early as sometime in 2025.
The company is continuing to look at another category entirely, the "smart glasses" area that is presently defined by Meta's $329-and-up smart Ray Ban glasses. The Apple version, which might be dubbed "Apple Glass," has no timetable at present, much like the second-generation Apple Vision Pro.
According to the report, the idea of making the glasses-style device into a true augmented-reality product has "been tabled due to technical challenges." This could set the potential launch of the "Apple Glass" product back further than either the next Apple Vision Pro or the projected "Apple Vision" headsets.
It remains unclear what changes might be made in the cheaper "Apple Vision" product in order to bring the cost down, which reporter Mark Gurman feels should be in the $1,500 range to attract more buyers. One option would be to make any future headset out of lighter materials, since the weight factor of the current Apple Vision Pro is another of its main criticisms, alongside the price.
Rumor Score: Possible
Read on AppleInsider
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If you've used both (like me), the weight difference between glasses and googles is a *MAJOR* consideration. Even though I've been wearing glasses since childhood, I still take them off occasionally for a break. The ones of my face right now weigh about 30g. My Oculus Rift S weigh 500 g or 16x more.
The second major thing about googles is the discomfort for various reasons after wearing over time. If they are sealed off to prevent external light, that means air circulation is poor. It's important to mention that VR goggles are full of electronics which generate heat which is difficult to dissipate entirely to the exterior. Some of the heat is directed to the interior of the heatset.
Another issue is eye fatigue from staring a screen that is a fixed distance from your eyes. Perhaps younger eyes can handle this easier but at some point your eyes will be old and tired like mine and it's just not very comfortable doing so for longer periods of time.
With glasses (or unaided vision), you can rest your eyes by simply staring at something else. Typical ergonomic advice recommend doing so when using computer monitors and other video screens: occasionally look at something else (at a distance, away from the monitor). This is far easier to do without an HMD.
It's worth pointing out that a typical VR HMD isn't truly a full immersive experience because the display coverage is limited and don't provide any sort of peripheral vision. That forces you to look at the screen.
With something like AR glasses it would be easy to turn off the AR functions and continue viewing the surroundings. With an HMD, if you stop the content, you basically have either a blank screen or some default environment. Even video passthrough is not the same as unassisted standard vision.
There are also latency issues with all displays. Again, with a pair of glasses, you still get to view the world normally. The latency issues were particularly severe in VR HMDs in the Nineties and often caused motion sickness in users. Those negative effects have decreased by aren't gone.
There are probably 4-6 more issues concerning VR goggles or any similar immersive HMD. It probably explains why poor man's VR (like Google Cardboard) came and went very quickly. Even amateur enthusiasts quickly recognized many of the inherent shortcomings of googles/HMDs.
Some of the issues I've mentioned can be mitigated by better technology in the next few years but not all of them.
I don't see how VR HMD device manufacturers can get their products down to the sub 50 g range. I also don't know how they can eliminate comfort issues associated with air circulation and heat.
In the end, my VR HMD sessions last about 45 minutes because of overall device wearing fatigue. One thing I found interesting is that VR HMD use makes me thirsty (probably due to google heat and poor air circulation). Even drinking a glass of water is pretty awkward with a VR HMD with video passthrough. The googles and accompanying headgear are really designed for using the device with your head more or less level. The odd weight distribution is not a particularly enjoyable sensation when you look down, up or around.
And as you get older, the discomfort issues will become more annoying, not easier to accept.
Again, if you have worn both regular eyeglasses and a VR/AR HMD for an extended time, all of this should be very obvious. Wearing a VR HMD isn't a joy. It's more of a duty or chore, just like wearing snow googles (which I have also worn) when you go skiing or snowboarding. It's not something anyone prefers. But snow googles don't weigh anywhere near what VR HMDs currently weigh.
Same with Vision Pro. If I wanted a mixed reality headset I will purchase the Meta Quest 3. No need. Not interested.
I would rather IT providers put their effort into security so that we don't hacked on a personal or company level, rather than wasting billions on AI which is just an algorithm to scrape stale data. It is not predictive. It's retroactive.
I picked up the AVP at a local Apple Store. At ~625 g, it's noticeably heavier by +25% than my Rift S (500 g) so I had zero inclination to actually book a demo. Also, at $3500 it's almost 9x more expensive than what I paid for my Rift S ($399). Even if I won 1 million in lotto I wouldn't buy the AVP. I later tried a friend's AVP for a couple of minutes. That person returned their AVP a few days later.
I think I have used my Rift S for a total of 3 hours in the past six months. It works as advertised, it just becomes a tiresome user experience after around 35 minutes.'
I kept my Rift S mostly to continue playing a few VR games, notably Half-Life: Alyx, a modded version of Alien Isolation, and some other mods for HL Alyx like this one that puts the player in the Bioshock universe:
As far as I can tell, AVP doesn't have the same breadth of VR games (and it's still too expensive). If there's one game that a VR HMD needs to support, it's Half-Life: Alyx. I don't use the Rift S for any sort of productivity applications, it wasn't optimized for that sort of thing.
One thing for sure, I can barely stand wearing a 500 g HMD for more than 45 minutes. I know when I'm doing office productivity work, I typically spend more than 45 minutes.
My weight criticism isn't levelled specifically at AVP. The original Playstation VR HMD is 600g; the VR2 is 560 g. All of the major VR HMDs are all around this weight range which partially explains why none of them have taken off regardless of their price or image quality.
There are a lot of issues with the current implementations of VR HMDs in 2024. Even cutting the cord and making an HMD wireless has pros and cons. The biggest con is the requirement for an on-board battery which means limited usage duration and of course, more weight.
Like I wrote previously, there are probably 8 major issues with VR goggles and a bunch of minor ones or additional ones that crop up under certain conditions (like the battery issue for wireless HMDs). If you have used a variety of HMDs over the years, pick up an AVP and start asking questions, it's clear that Apple has not solved some basic roadblocks that plague this entire class of devices. Owning an AVP doesn't make it any lighter.
If a future Apple HMD goes on a crash diet -- both in weight and price -- I might consider it. But the current AVP offering is too heavy and too spendy. But for me to wear such a device for a couple of hours per sitting, it really needs to get to 100 g or less.